We're there for you. For all of it.
The University Health Network (UHN) is a family of research and teaching hospitals in Toronto were conducting a pilot project on how to best communicate the transition to palliative care for patients. They wanted to explore the use of a motion graphic video to help prime patients and assuage uncertainties around the different physical, mental, and emotional needs associated with end-of-life care.
Working together with a strong team at By the Booth, I was tasked with creating the design direction, character designs, and storyboard for the video. To emphasize all the layers of support in their multidisciplinarary holistic care approach, I refined a watercolour based visual direction that allowed the main story elements to shine. The storybook-like qualities captured the patient's point of view and guided the viewers attention as they navigated through the healthcare maze.
From there, I created a set of characters from different age groups and ethinic backgrounds to represent the various obstacles and perspectives involved in this healthcare journey. With all of the above in place, I worked to build a 'lived experience' for each of the families and visually translated it into a storyboard to pair with the finished script.
Building off client and patient feedback, continual adjustments were made in the new year to help scenes feel less scary. This included reworking parts of the colour palette, creating other ways to represent MRI scans, and incorporating more negative space and diorama-like elements. The animatic and subsequent final video were met with very positive reception by both the UHN and their patients.
